How to Copyright a Song (and What It Costs)

This guide is for independent songwriters and artists, and it's based on US law. It covers what's already protected, why registering helps, what each option costs, when and how to file, and what to do when someone copies your song.

TL;DR

• You already own the copyright in a song you've recorded or written down. You have to register it before you can sue over a US song.

• The song and the recording are two separate copyrights, and one application can cover both when the same people own them.

• Registering online costs $45 to $85 today. Proposed fees of $55 to $130 could start in mid-November 2026 at the earliest.

• Register before your distributor sends the release out, or within three months after. Then you can claim damages set by law and legal fees for copying after release.

• Joining a PRO, adding a © symbol and mailing yourself a copy don't register your song.

Table of contents

• Is your song already copyrighted?

• The song and the recording are two copyrights

• Why register a copyright you already have

• What it costs to copyright a song

• When to register

• How to register a song online, step by step

• What doesn't count as registering

• If someone copies your song

• Copyright outside the US

• What your copyright lets you do

• Common mistakes to avoid

• Common questions

Is your song already copyrighted?

Yes. In the US, a song is protected by copyright the moment it's written down or recorded, even as a voice memo on your phone. Registering it with the Copyright Office is optional. The date you register decides which damages you can claim if someone copies it.

Copyright protects the music, lyrics and recordings you make. It doesn't protect song titles, band names or the idea behind a song. Some band names can be protected as trademarks, so check your local trademark register when you choose an artist name.

The song and the recording are two copyrights

Copyright law treats a song, meaning its music and lyrics, and a recording of that song as two separate works. If you wrote the song and recorded it yourself, you hold both. When another artist records your song, they register their recording and you register the song.

On a co-written song, every co-writer goes on the application as an author. Agree everyone's share in writing before you file, with a split sheet.

A sample or a leased beat belongs to someone else, so you exclude it from your claim on the application.

Why register a copyright you already have

For a US work, the Copyright Office has to register or refuse your song before you can file a lawsuit over it.

Registering in time also lets you ask a court for damages set by law, called statutory damages, and your legal fees. The court can award $750 to $30,000 per work, and up to $150,000 when the copying was willful.

Your registration puts your claim on the public record. Made before publication or within five years after, it's evidence in court that your copyright is valid.

What it costs to copyright a song

These are the Copyright Office's online fees on November 1, 2026, next to the higher fees it sent to Congress on July 14. By law, the new fees can start once 120 days have passed, which is mid-November 2026 at the earliest, unless Congress blocks them. Filing on paper would go from $125 to $185.

Each option has conditions:

• Single Application: one song, and everything in it, made and owned by one person. It can include the recording only if that person is also its only performer and producer. A co-writer, a sample, a bought or leased beat, or AI-made material rules it out.

• Standard Application: one song, or a song and its recording when the same people own both. A whole released album can go on one Standard Application too, if the same people own it all. None of its tracks can have come out, or been registered, before the album. A court may then award statutory damages only once for the album, even if every track was copied.

• Group of unpublished works: up to 10 songs that aren't published yet, by the same writers, with every writer named as an owner. Their recordings can go on the same application if the same people made them too, with Sound Recording chosen as the type of work.

• Album options: the songs, or the recordings, must come out on the same album and have the same owners, with at least one author in common. Songs and recordings need separate applications.

Some example budgets, at today's fees and the proposed ones:

• A solo single that qualifies for the Single Application: $45, or $55.

• A band single the four members wrote and recorded together: $65, or $85.

• A 10-song album that isn't published yet, written and recorded by the same people: $85, or $130.

• The same album after release, as one work on the Standard Application: $65, or $85.

• The same album after release, on the two album options: $130, or $215.

Filing those 10 songs one at a time would cost $650 today, or $850 at the proposed fees. A solo artist using the Single Application would pay $450, or $550. Check the Copyright Office's current fees before you pay.

When to register

Aim to register before your distributor sends the release out, and add it to your release checklist. From your registration date on, you can claim statutory damages and legal fees for any new copying. Songs registered before release don't need registering again when they come out, as long as you release the versions you registered.

If the release goes out first, you have three months from publication to register. Registering in that window still covers copying that started after publication.

Publication can come before release day. The Office generally treats a song as published once it's offered to several streaming or download services. Your distributor does that when it sends the release out. Selling downloads from your own store can count too. Streaming a track yourself with no download option may not count as publication.

Your registration counts from the day the Office has everything: the full application, the fee and your copy, uploaded or mailed. The certificate shows that date, even though it arrives months later.

How to register a song online, step by step

Registration runs through eCO, the Copyright Office's online system. Before you start, have the title, the year you finished the song and the audio file ready. You'll also need the names of everyone who wrote, performed, produced or owns it.

The steps for one song, with or without its recording:

1. Log in through the Copyright Office's registration portal and start a new application.

2. Pick the application from the table above. In eCO, the Single Application is labeled "One Work by One Author".

3. On the Standard Application, choose the type of work. Pick "Work of the Performing Arts" for a song alone, or "Sound Recording" for a song and its recording.

4. Enter the title, the year you finished it and whether it's published, with the date if it is.

5. Name every author and owner. List anything you don't own, like a sample or a leased beat, under Material Excluded.

6. Pay the fee.

7. Send a complete copy, usually by uploading the audio file. If you're registering a recording that came out on CD or vinyl, mail two physical copies, even if it's also out digitally.

Pick the type of work carefully, because a wrong choice means starting the application over.

Everything you enter becomes public, and most of it goes online. The Office suggests a PO box or a business address and email for your contact details. Asking to remove personal details from the online catalog later costs $100 per registration.

What doesn't count as registering

None of these puts your song on the Copyright Office's record:

• Joining a PRO. ASCAP, BMI and other performing rights organizations collect royalties for songwriters and publishers when songs are played in public.

• Releasing through a distributor. It sends your music to streaming services and download stores.

• Adding a © symbol. A notice tells people you claim the copyright, though US law hasn't required one since March 1, 1989.

• Mailing yourself a copy. The Copyright Office says copyright law has no provision for this "poor man's copyright".

If someone copies your song

Start by asking the platform to take the copy down. Under US law, a takedown notice needs your signature, the song, where the copy is and your contact details. It also needs a statement that you believe in good faith the use isn't allowed. A second statement says the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you own the song or can act for its owner.

A registration isn't on that list, so you can send a notice before you've registered. On YouTube, you can file a copyright removal request in YouTube Studio, under Content detection. YouTube is legally required to share some of your details with the uploader, and misusing the process can cost you your account.

To claim money from someone in the US without going to court, you can use the Copyright Claims Board. It handles claims up to $30,000 in total, and you don't need a lawyer. You need at least a complete application on file, with its fee and copy. The other side can opt out, and you can then still sue in federal court. Filing costs $40, plus $60 if the case goes ahead. For songs registered late, statutory damages there stop at $7,500 per song and $15,000 per case.

Copyright outside the US

• United Kingdom: you're protected automatically and for free, and there's no register of copyright works.

• Canada: copyright is automatic. Registering with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) is optional and costs C$63 online. The certificate is evidence that you own the copyright.

• Australia: you don't need to register, and protection is free and automatic.

Elsewhere, check your own country's copyright office before you pay anyone to "register" a song.

What your copyright lets you do

As the owner, you decide who can copy, sell, perform or adapt your song, and you can license those rights to others. Licensing a song to a film, show or ad is called sync. To get those placements, pitch your music for film and TV.

Once your song is out on a recording in the US, other artists can release an audio cover of it without your permission. They have to follow the legal process and pay the set royalty.

Sign your songs up with a PRO and your recordings with SoundExchange, which pays for plays on satellite and internet radio. Step 4 of how to release music independently lists both.

Noiseyard's Standard and Unlimited plans include a store for selling your music and merch on your own website, with no commission (Stripe's payment fee still applies).

Common mistakes to avoid

• A Single Application that doesn't qualify. The Office refuses it, and you file and pay again on the Standard Application, with a later effective date.

• Several unpublished songs on one Standard Application. The Office may register only one of them and remove the rest, so use the group option.

• Only the band's name. On a group application, list each member who wrote the songs, because a band name alone isn't enough.

• Forgetting the recording. A registration for the song doesn't cover your recording of it.

Common questions

Do I need to copyright my song before putting it on Spotify?

No. It's protected already, and you can register at any time, though registering late limits the damages you can claim.

How long does it take to copyright a song?

Copyright itself is immediate. Between April and September 2026, online registrations with an uploaded file took 3.4 months on average when the Office had no questions. They took 5.3 months when it did.

Can you copyright a song title?

No. Titles, names and short phrases aren't protected by copyright.

Can I copyright just my lyrics?

Yes. You can register lyrics on their own, and the group option can take up to 10 unpublished lyrics by the same writers.

Can you copyright a song made with AI?

You can register the parts a person made. The Copyright Office says that with today's AI tools, prompts alone don't give you enough control to be the author. Your own lyrics and creative changes to the AI's output can be protected, but purely AI-made material can't. Use the Standard Application and list any AI-made parts that are more than minor under Material Excluded.